York medical pot property owner to appeal town ban

YORK — The owner of a building where medical marijuana is being grown has indicated he will file an appeal of the town’s notice of violation and order for corrective action.

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By Susan Morse

seacoastonline.com

By Susan Morse

Posted May. 20, 2014 at 12:07 PM
Updated May 20, 2014 at 12:14 PM

By Susan Morse

Posted May. 20, 2014 at 12:07 PM
Updated May 20, 2014 at 12:14 PM

» Social News

YORK, Maine — The owner of a building where medical marijuana is being grown has indicated he will file an appeal of the town’s notice of violation and order for corrective action.

Robert Grant, the owner of the property at 19 White Birch Lane in York, has asked Durward Parkinson, the former town attorney, to represent him before the Board of Appeals, according to information released at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday.

Grant has yet to file an appeal, according to Appeals Board Assistant Reenie Johnson.

“He hasn’t turned anything in as of today,” Johnson said Tuesday morning.

The Board of Selectmen on Monday unanimously voted to grant consent to the law firm of Bergen & Parkinson, LLC of Kennebunk, to represent Grant. Parkinson had asked for the board’s consent as he still represents York on a few ongoing matters, according to information from Town Manager Rob Yandow included in the selectmen packet. The ongoing issues are unrelated to the Board of Appeals case, Yandow said.

Neither Grant, of Eliot, nor Parkinson, could be reached for comment.

In the notice of violation and order for corrective action issued April 30, York Community Development Director Steve Burns told Grant to stop allowing his property on White Birch Lane to be used for medical marijuana. Burns ordered medical marijuana uses to stop immediately and not to resume until and if the uses are approved by the planning board.

Burns issued the notice and order to Grant as landlord, and not to the individual marijuana growers, called caregivers. Grant faces a fine of $100 per day for noncompliance, according to the notice.

At least five people are growing medical marijuana at a warehouse facility listed in the violation notice as 17 and/or 19 White Birch Lane, according to Burns.

York officials have not shut down operations as Grant has 30 days to appeal, according to Burns.

The growing of marijuana for medical use came to the attention of town officials earlier this year after neighbors complained of smell and increased traffic, according to comments made at the time by Police Chief Doug Bracy.

State law allows for growers, as “caregivers” to cultivate up to six blooming plants for themselves and up to five patients.

Burns has said he is only concerned with land use. The use was never formally presented to or approved by the town, Burns said in the notice.

The town has nothing on the books to regulate growers or to even know who they are, according to Burns, who has presented a proposed ordinance to the planning board for the November ballot. The planning board is holding a public hearing on the proposed ordinance at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 22, in the York Public Library.

York cannot issue an outright ban on growing medical marijuana, according to Burns. The ordinance proposes to allow medical marijuana to be grown in the commercial Route 1 zone, an area roughly between the former Bournival dealership north to Wild Willy’s Burgers.